ANGRY boss Eddie Howe slammed red-carded Ryan Lowe for his “disgusting challenge” on Tommy Elphick in Cherries’ 3-0 win at MK Dons yesterday.

Cherries’ stand-in skipper Elphick is facing a scan to assess the extent of a knee injury following the ugly incident which overshadowed an impressive victory at stadium:mk.

Lewis Grabban fired Cherries in front before tempers flared in the closing stages of the first half.

Lowe, who had earlier clashed with Elphick, was sent off after flying into a two-footed, late lunge on the defender which sparked a furious reaction among Cherries’ players and staff.

Marc Pugh netted a second for Cherries before the interval and Harry Arter scored a stunning third to seal a convincing win which lifted the Dorset outfit to third in League One.

MK Dons striker Lowe apologised when he faced the media after the match and MK manager Karl Robinson confirmed his player had been fined.

Howe said: “I thought it was a disgusting challenge – really, really poor.

“Tommy has had injury problems in his career and I hope and pray that he is not badly hurt.

“We don’t know at the moment but it is a knee problem. We will wait and see.

“To do that to a fellow professional is really poor.

“My players did very well to keep their cool and keep their discipline and not turn it into a fight because no one wanted to see that.”

Asked if Cherries could take any encouragement from Elphick managing to hobble off the pitch before being replaced by Matt Ritchie, Howe replied: “Sometimes, that can be deceiving. I think I did the same at Portsmouth and wasn’t seen again for two years so I wouldn’t read anything into that.

“We will have to assess the damage and see what injury he has got.”

Lowe said: “I have let down everyone – the club, my manager, my team-mates, myself and my family.

“I am just disappointed in myself. The tackle was outrageous and I should never have gone for it.

“It is not my character and it is not me. It was in our half and it was just a moment of madness and all I can do is apologise.

“I just hope the lad (Elphick) is all right. I will see Eddie Howe before he goes and apologise to him. I am a man, I am not a young boy, I will get on with it and apologise.”

Howe added: “I respect him for coming out and making that comment but, really, it is Tommy that he should be apologising to.”

Discussing Cherries’ victory, Howe said: “It was a good performance.

“I was really pleased we got the early goal. I think that made a big difference to us and settled us down.

“We came with a game-plan to frustrate them and play a certain way, which I think you have to against a good team, which MK Dons are.

“To come here and win 3-0 was really pleasing and I was very impressed with the players and how they responded and adapted to the different challenges in front of them.

“It is not easy with 11 against 10 and you see countless times that the 10 beat the 11 so we still had a lot to do at half-time, but the players were very professional in their approach.”